Swinney insists 'stars are aligning' for Scottish independence

John Swinney, a bald man with glasses wearing a black suit and purple tie with a saltire pin on it. He has his hands outstretched beside him and two microphones in front of him. He is mid speech. Behind him is a yellow sign with black writing. — Image caption,
John Swinney will deliver his keynote speech to the SNP conference in Aberdeen

Updated 1 hour ago

John Swinney will insist that "the stars are aligning" for Scottish independence during his keynote speech to the SNP conference later.

The first minister will tell party members in Aberdeen that 2026 has been a turning point in the country's "journey towards statehood".

Swinney will stress that "in Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast, every first minister now supports our nations' right to self-determination".

He will seek to press the case for another independence referendum in the wake of elections in May which saw the SNP win a record fifth term in government at Holyrood.

The nationalist first ministers of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland held a summit in Cardiff last month where they signed an agreement, which is not legally binding, that said no Westminster government had the right to "block democracy".

Swinney will tell his party's supporters that "one by one, the stars are aligning in our favour".

He will say that if the SNP lost May's Scottish Parliament election, the case for independence "would have been set back decades".

While the SNP won the Holyrood ballot, the party failed to win the overall majority Swinney had set as a target for trying to force a second referendum in the face of Westminster opposition.

Despite that, Swinney will declare that "there is no turning back".

He is expected to say: "The SNP is making the weather.

"And make no mistake – the wind is now firmly in the sails of Scotland's independence movement."

The first minister will go on to claim that the unionist parties at Westminster are "weaker than they have ever been".

John Swinney wearing a darks suit and purple tie waving his left arm. His other arm is around Jenny Gilruth, who is wearing a red suit. She also has her arm outstretched. Behind them is a picture showing the Forth Rail Bridge. — Image caption,
Swinney introduced Deputy First Minister Jenny Gilruth to the conference on Friday

Swinney's address to the SNP conference comes the day after Andy Burnham made his first major speech in Scotland since moving into Downing Street.

The prime minister used that visit to extend an olive branch to Swinney, saying he wanted to work together on giving more power to local communities.

Speaking in Motherwell, the Labour leader said he wanted to "move beyond the old politics of conflict" as he offered to work with the SNP to deepen devolution in Scotland.

Burnham previously told Swinney during a meeting in Glasgow that a second Scottish independence referendum remains "off limits".

The meeting came after Burnham told MPs that a border poll would be considered in both Scotland and Northern Ireland if there was a clear consensus and public opinion had changed.

Since 2014, successive UK governments have opposed any further referendums.

Scotland previously voted against becoming an independent country by 55% to 45%.

In 2022, the UK Supreme Court ruled that any further vote would require the agreement of the UK governmen t.